Twenty years after. Challenges and successes in digital archiving

The following paper provides a reflective historiography on the ongoing work of the Archaeology Data Service (ADS), the only accredited UK digital archive for archaeological data. As the organisation moves past its twentieth year the landscape it inhabits has changed considerably. At a practical level archives are now bigger, more varied (encompassing both research and development-led sources) and composed of more ‘complex’ data-types than previously encountered. Within a wider context, the concepts around what a data archive should be and do have changed significantly: the growth of the Open Access movement, the increased necessity and requirement to provide or aggregate data with national and international partners, the concept of data as a citable publication/output, and the responsibilities that come with peer-accreditation of digital repositories.

Against this backdrop the ADS has continued to rise to any challenges, and to persevere to develop and adhere to best practice in order to stay true to its founding principles of providing free access to digital materials in perpetuity. This paper aims to share with the audience some of these challenges so as to provide insight and understanding about what the ADS do, and why we do it. The paper also outlines some of the problems and opportunities on the horizon, and presents a self-critical yet optimistic perspective on how the ADS can continue to improve and best serve its community of users.

Tim Evans